Finnmark Sauna, the UK’s leading authentic Finnish sauna specialists, has highlighted five trends it believes will shape the next phase of the industry after sponsoring the Congress’ Sauna Live Stage.
Co-founders Jake and Max Newport moderated and joined discussions on sustainability, wood-fired heating, technology, design and the future of sauna culture across the two-day event. For Finnmark, which has installed thousands of indoor and outdoor saunas across residential, hospitality and commercial wellness settings over the past decade, the Congress offered a chance to compare developments across established sauna markets with what is happening in the rapidly growing UK sector.
There are now more than 900 public saunas in the UK, up from around 45 in early 2023, and Finnmark says the conversation is increasingly shifting from simply growing participation to how the industry manages that growth well.
Following two days of discussions in Oslo, Jake and Max have highlighted five themes they believe will become increasingly important for sauna designers, manufacturers, operators and wellness businesses.
1. Commercial Saunas Need to Be Designed for Longevity
As the number of public saunas continues to grow, more installations are operating longer hours and serving far more users.
For Finnmark, that is making durability a much bigger design consideration.
Max Newport moderated ‘Saunas That Last: Sustainable Saunas in High Maintenance Environments’, exploring how materials, construction, ventilation and maintenance affect how well a sauna performs over time.
Finnmark believes commercial operators will increasingly need to look beyond how a sauna appears on opening day and consider how it will withstand years of heavy use.
Max Newport, co-founder of Finnmark Sauna, said: “There is a big difference between designing a sauna for occasional residential use and designing one that could have hundreds of users passing through it every week.
“The industry is becoming much more aware that longevity has to be considered from the beginning. Choosing the wrong materials or overlooking maintenance at the design stage can create much bigger problems further down the line.”
2. The Industry Is Still Working Out How Much Technology Is Too Much
App-controlled heaters, sensors, automated ventilation, lighting and sound are becoming increasingly common within modern sauna spaces. Jake also joined the panel ‘Is Technology Enhancing or Ruining the Sauna Experience?’, which explored where technology adds genuine value and where it risks complicating something that has traditionally been simple.
Finnmark sees technology as particularly useful for commercial operators, where remote controls, monitoring and automation can improve efficiency and day-to-day management. However, the team believes technology should support the sauna experience rather than become the experience itself.
Jake added: “There are obvious benefits to technology, particularly for commercial operators managing multiple saunas or long opening hours.
“But sauna is also appealing because it is simple. Nobody needs another screen in front of them. The challenge is using technology behind the scenes where it adds value without allowing it to dominate the experience.”
3. Sustainability Is Becoming Much Broader Than Energy Consumption
Energy use remains an important consideration, but Finnmark says the industry’s definition of sustainability is becoming wider.
Discussions in Oslo also focused on the materials used to build saunas, how long installations last, how easily components can be maintained or replaced and how efficiently heating systems operate. That means a sauna with low energy consumption is not necessarily sustainable if it requires substantial repairs or replacement after only a few years.
For Finnmark, the next stage of sustainable sauna design will involve looking at the entire lifespan of an installation rather than one metric in isolation.
Max added: “Sustainability cannot just be about how much energy a sauna uses.
“If materials are failing quickly or installations need constant replacement, that has to be part of the conversation too. There is a growing focus on designing saunas that perform well for longer, which is better for operators as well as the environment.”
4. Cleaner Wood-Fired Heating Will Become More Important
Wood-fired sauna remains an important part of traditional sauna culture, but emissions, air quality and efficiency are becoming harder for the industry to ignore.
Jake Newport moderated ‘Hot Saunas and Clean Air: Next Generation Wood Heaters and Why It Matters’, looking at how heater technology is evolving alongside regulation and changing environmental expectations. For Finnmark, this does not mean moving away from wood-fired sauna. Instead, the business expects manufacturers to continue improving combustion, efficiency and emissions without losing the experience that makes a wood-fired sauna distinctive.
Jake Newport said: “There is still huge demand for wood-fired sauna, and rightly so. It gives a very different experience.
“The interesting question now is how manufacturers retain that experience while making heaters cleaner and more efficient. That is going to become increasingly important as the market grows and more saunas open in public and commercial environments.”
5. Rapid Growth Cannot Come at the Expense of Sauna Culture
Perhaps the biggest theme running through the Congress was how the industry can continue to grow without losing the traditions behind sauna. That question is becoming increasingly relevant as sauna reaches new audiences and expands into hotels, spas, gyms, beaches, hospitality venues and standalone public sites.
Finnmark says innovation and commercial growth are important, but believes education around authentic sauna culture must grow alongside them. That theme was also explored during two live editions of Finnmark’s The Sauna Twins, recorded at the Congress.
Jake and Max spoke with Latvian Pirts practitioner M?ra Zute about Pirts traditions and rituals, before discussing sauna architecture with Sami Rintala of Rintala Eggertsson Architects, including his work at SALT in Oslo.
Jake said: “The industry is growing incredibly quickly, particularly in markets like the UK, but there was a real sense in Oslo that growth alone is not enough. There is a huge amount of innovation happening around design, heating and technology, but there is also a responsibility to understand where sauna comes from and why certain traditions exist.
“For us, that balance is really important. We want the industry to keep evolving, but not to the point where sauna becomes just another wellness trend.”
Finnmark Looks to Europe After a Decade of Growth
The Congress comes as Finnmark prepares for its own next phase.
The business recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and has grown into an eight-figure turnover company, installing thousands of saunas across residential, hospitality and commercial wellness environments.
Its projects have included the UK’s tallest sauna at Shangri-La The Shard, the UK’s largest sauna at Arc in Canary Wharf and the country’s first floating sauna at Wyld in Liverpool.
Finnmark is now preparing for further expansion into Europe, with the Congress offering an opportunity to strengthen relationships across the international sauna community as the business looks beyond the UK.
